You are not alone facing this mystery; we all struggle to understand the complexity of life. Rushford Lutheran Church is a place where you can come to learn about God's love for you, where you can grow in faith, use your gifts, and a place where you can share your joys and sorrows in a community of care, compassion and faith. We invite you to come and to experience the difference this makes in your life.

For more information about the mission and ministry at Rushford Lutheran Church please call (507) 864-7152 or e-mail rlc@acegroup.cc

 “Musing with the King”

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. — Hebrews 12:1-2

March is the month that we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  I find it interesting that, whether you are Roman Catholic or not, in fact whether you are a Christian or not, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day has gotten to the point of almost being a national holiday! 

Young people, even older people, sometimes struggle with the impression that the church is ancient and anachronistic, a grandfather clock in a digital, and atomic clock world.  We sometimes view holiness as something untouchable, a relic of great men and women of the past whose superhuman inclinations earned them the title "saint."

This passage from the book of Hebrews instead encourages us to look for holiness, or "saintliness," in the people of ordinary life.  Suddenly we find holiness, something we never considered a widespread quality, everywhere!  When we gather to worship God in the name of Jesus, we are never alone. There is a wider "communion of saints" that unites believers across all boundaries of time and space; even across such a boundary as divides this world from the next.

Most people possess an instinctive ability to recognize heroic sanctity when they see it.  Apart from any official church process, they recognize that there are certain people whose lives, in some extraordinary fashion, proclaim the mystery of the gospel.  Some are persons who might well be candidates for official canonization:  Mother Theresa of Calcutta, or Dorothy Day are a few examples from recent times.  But this list could include others, such as the martyred theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or Albert Schweitzer, or Martin Luther King, Jr.  who, as non-Catholics, would never be eligible for formal canonization. It is not hard to argue that such lives present a more vivid inspiration for contemporary Christians than the memory of many long-ago saints.

Then there are non-Christians like Gandhi, or the Jewish prophet Abraham Heschel, whose impact on Christian spirituality and ethics has equaled that of any orthodox Christian of our time. By including them in an expanded roster of "saints," my intent is not to drag them unwillingly into the Christian fold but to point in the direction of the God who (according to the author of Hebrews) is testified to by “so great a cloud of witnesses”. 

We have examples of holiness beyond the cloister: saints immersed in the worlds of art, literature, scholarship, in political struggle, and in everyday life.  We have prophets who challenge the church as well as the world to better reflect the justice and mercy of God. We need the witness of the saints, ancient and new, who have laid down their lives for their faith and for their neighbors. We must pay attention to the example of this great cloud of witnesses, who encourage us to see beyond “everydayness” and so remind us of the God who is ever present with us.

Saints exist today and are nearby. Their presence challenges us with the extraordinary possibilities of our ordinary existence. And they are both of the same material and a far cry from their stained-glass predecessors. Let’s seek out and honor the saints of our communities, no canonization (or drinking of green beer!) required.

Jan Gluth King, Intern Pastor